Preview — The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan

The Cement Garden

In this tour de force of psychological unease - now a major motion picture starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sinead Cusack - McEwan excavates the ruins of childhood and uncovers things that most adults have spent a lifetime forgetting or denying. "Possesses the suspense and chilling impact of Lord of the Flies." Washington Post Book World.

Will it reflect badly on me if I say this book isn't sordid enough to be entertaining or truly affecting? Considering how unsettling and uncomfortable it already is?

Four siblings, ranging from 6 to 17, who have too close for comfort of a relationship (if the word "incest" flashed in you mind, you are correct - it is not a spoiler, the "action" starts on page 2), witness both their parents die within the weeks of each other. When their mother dies, they make a decision to bury her in the cellar aWill it reflect badly on me if I say this book isn't sordid enough to be entertaining or truly affecting? Considering how unsettling and uncomfortable it already is?

Four siblings, ranging from 6 to 17, who have too close for comfort of a relationship (if the word "incest" flashed in you mind, you are correct - it is not a spoiler, the "action" starts on page 2), witness both their parents die within the weeks of each other. When their mother dies, they make a decision to bury her in the cellar and to not tell anyone, to keep their family intact. Left to their own devices, these children go through the motions of playing house and, you guessed it, they don't do it very well.

The Cement Garden gives a predictably disturbing and occasionally icky picture of what can happen to kids isolated from the community and unsupervised by adults. As much as I hate reading about incest, especially when it is written as some romantic device or for melodramatic effect, here it is strangely understandable, albeit not less gross.

However, the novel didn't quite work for me. I thought there was more to say about the family, the kids' parents, their path to such a taboo closeness. The point the author was trying to make with this story evaded me. I just didn't quite get it or even if I did, the novel failed to affect me as much as Atonement and On Chesil Beach did in the past. It happens rather often when I read McEwan though....more

KateI agree about it not being 'sordid enough'- having read reviews and heard people talking about it, I felt weird when I didn't find it that disturbing.I agree about it not being 'sordid enough'- having read reviews and heard people talking about it, I felt weird when I didn't find it that disturbing.I think all the relationships described seem quite inevitable in their situation....more
Mar 14, 2013 08:33AM

Erin O.This review captures my feelings about this book exactly. I felt like there was so much more to be said about the family and how they came to be the wThis review captures my feelings about this book exactly. I felt like there was so much more to be said about the family and how they came to be the way they were....more
Mar 24, 2013 04:11PM

Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden is, quite clearly not for everyone. There are several severely disturbing incidents throughout the book that might make some readers wonder why they bought it, and where is the nearest bookstore to return it? There are other groups both of a religious/fascist nature (the two are not always mutually exclusive) that might have it pencilled in on their "things to burn" list.

In the hands of a lesser writer, much of this book would seem vulgar. However, in McEwan's cap

Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden is, quite clearly not for everyone. There are several severely disturbing incidents throughout the book that might make some readers wonder why they bought it, and where is the nearest bookstore to return it? There are other groups both of a religious/fascist nature (the two are not always mutually exclusive) that might have it pencilled in on their "things to burn" list.

In the hands of a lesser writer, much of this book would seem vulgar. However, in McEwan's capable hands the book is instead disturbingly beautiful. The book is very short, and to say almost anything about it is to give almost everything away, so you will find no excerpts or plot points in this review. Suffice to say that The Cement Garden is a brilliant, gripping read that feels like it's over before it began.

This book is fucked-up, sick, and creepy...I loved it. I love McEwan's style. He doesn't clutter his writing with unnecessary words, yet he says so much. His writing is sharp and clean. He is so good at invoking a specific mood at the very beginning of a novel, and then continuing to give the reader that same feeling throughout. Then, just when you're sufficiently creeped out or unnerved or whatever it is you've been feeling, it gets even more intense.

The book is a first-person narrative told bThis book is fucked-up, sick, and creepy...I loved it. I love McEwan's style. He doesn't clutter his writing with unnecessary words, yet he says so much. His writing is sharp and clean. He is so good at invoking a specific mood at the very beginning of a novel, and then continuing to give the reader that same feeling throughout. Then, just when you're sufficiently creeped out or unnerved or whatever it is you've been feeling, it gets even more intense.

The book is a first-person narrative told by the eldest son of a family of four children. Two boys and two girls. It describes what the children do with themselves when both of their parents die relatively close to one another. The kids are already insular and strange, and we see how they deal with caring for themselves and their surroundings. We also see how their roles and interactions with each other change after the second parent dies.

I don't want to give anything more away, but I want to say that I like it when a book unnerves me, and this did the job. ...more

KimI've seen the movie, but it's been years... and years ... but, I haven't read this. Given my history with Mr. McEwan, I'm not so sure...
May 22, 2009 04:35AM

GregThe movie came across as being creepier than the book, or maybe that was only because I saw the movie first. I liked the book a lot more than the moviThe movie came across as being creepier than the book, or maybe that was only because I saw the movie first. I liked the book a lot more than the movie though. ...more
May 22, 2009 05:06AM

I saw the movie version of The Cement Garden in the theater when I was fifteen, and completely freaked out. For years afterwards it stayed high on my list of all-time favorites. I haven't seen it again since then, though, so I have no idea what I'd think now, but at the time I just thought it was the greatest thing ever. Incest! Allegory. Incest! Foreigners! Incest! Cement. Incest! Adolescence. Tragedy! Incest! What more do you want from a film at age fifteen?

Reading this book was definitely colI saw the movie version of The Cement Garden in the theater when I was fifteen, and completely freaked out. For years afterwards it stayed high on my list of all-time favorites. I haven't seen it again since then, though, so I have no idea what I'd think now, but at the time I just thought it was the greatest thing ever. Incest! Allegory. Incest! Foreigners! Incest! Cement. Incest! Adolescence. Tragedy! Incest! What more do you want from a film at age fifteen?

Reading this book was definitely colored by my long-ago experience of the movie, and it was impossible for me to tell to what extent. To me, this book read like a screenplay. All the characters, locations, and action seemed very cinematic, in a good way. I think it's very funny that this was originally marketed as a sensationalistic horror novel, though I guess that makes a certain kind of sense. I mean, it's a little macabre, in its way, I suppose. I really did like it a lot, though some of that must have to do with the thrill I got knowing that even Ian McEwan had to start somewhere. I actually thought this was very well-written, but it was still like looking at the pimply, gangly, compulsively masturbating adolescent who will someday blossom into a distinguished grey-haired, smirking master of the English sentence. To think, the universally acclaimed sex-pervert novelist who wrote Atonement was once a smug-looking first-time novelist in a macrame vest! This should give us all hope.

I really liked this book, and I might give it four stars. It is one of the ones where you really feel like you're in the place he's describing and can see all the people, and that's worth real points where I come from. I think I'm just holding him to a higher standard because he's Ian McEwan, also because lately I'm just giving everything three stars because.... that's just sort of how I'm feeling these days. Oh, and it was flawed. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was. But I'm so confused by having seen the movie at one point that I don't feel I can talk about this book with any authority....more

MannyHa! That's pretty much my reaction (now) to his debut short story collection, First Love, Last Rights. Except that, when I read it, I didn't know whatHa! That's pretty much my reaction (now) to his debut short story collection, First Love, Last Rights. Except that, when I read it, I didn't know what he was going to be when he grew up, and I wasn't so charitable :)...more
Apr 03, 2009 07:20AM

Last January someone in the US postal service made off with 4 brand new pair of Timberland boots I was shipping hoSorry your bag was stolen, Jessica.

Last January someone in the US postal service made off with 4 brand new pair of Timberland boots I was shipping home from Florida. The box arrived empty!

I hate loosing things, but I hate loosing books, especially ones I really loved, or ones I'm in the middle of reading. I left Cuba and It's Music at Barnes and Noble and then a few days later left it on the reception counter at the Yoga Shelter. I was gobsacked by Rivers of Gold, bragged about it to everyone, then proceeded to loose it. I felt lost without the actual book on my shelf. Did I actually learn anything from the book? Do I really need to have a copy in my possession? I showed someone Fredrick Law Olmstead and realized some time later it had disappeared. I don't even want to think the person I showed it to would take it. It's all speculation. Better to replace what you can and not beat yourself up over it. What's worse, loosing a book, deluding yourself, thinking you're stupid because you can't retain every fact within 800 pages of research, or being betrayed by your fellow man?...more
updated
Apr 03, 2009 08:13PM

A profoundly disturbing, but very well written book. Had I realised the true nature of it, I doubt I would have read it, and somehow the fact it is told in such an unjudgemental way almost makes it worse.

"I did not kill my father, but I sometimes think I helped him on his way", is the opening sentence. ItMcEwan's first novel, published when he was only 30. (It was preceded by an even more shocking collection of short stories, "First Love, Last Rights", https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....)

A profoundly disturbing, but very well written book. Had I realised the true nature of it, I doubt I would have read it, and somehow the fact it is told in such an unjudgemental way almost makes it worse.

"I did not kill my father, but I sometimes think I helped him on his way", is the opening sentence. It is set in a hot summer in late '70s England. Four children live a rather isolated life in a very insular and not entirely happy family. Their father dies, and not long after, so does their mother (this much is mentioned in the blurb), leaving them to fend for themselves and each other. Tom is 5 or 6, Sue 12, Jack (the narrator) turns 15 and Julie about 16 or 17.

Bereaved, fearful, lonely, unprepared, bored (school holidays), directionless, coupled with puberty and sibling squabbles. Each tries different coping strategies, none of which really work: shy Julie (previously with a reputation for "disruptive, intimidating quietness") takes charge, Sue reads and also writes a diary, Tom regresses (a cot delivers "an enveloping pleasure in being tenderly imprisoned"), and Jack... retreats and masturbates. But those behaviours are trivial in comparison to other actions.

They lose sense of time, self and not just right and wrong, but what the rest of the world would judge as right and wrong: "Nor could I think whether what we had done was an ordinary thing to do, understandable even if it had been a mistake, or something so strange that if it was ever found out it would be the headline of every newspaper in the country... every thought I had dissolved into nothing."

I found the story gripping and oddly credible, and yet I was appalled by it too - a little like Lolita....more

I don’t read the works of a particular author in chronological order. If I want to sample an author, I go straight to his/her most famous work. If I like it, I read 2-3 more of his popular ones and if I still like them, that’s the only time I go to his or her earlier works then probably do the reading chronologically. Of course, I am talking here of authors that have more than 5 works to their name and did not get international fame in their very first or only book.

This is what’s been happeningI don’t read the works of a particular author in chronological order. If I want to sample an author, I go straight to his/her most famous work. If I like it, I read 2-3 more of his popular ones and if I still like them, that’s the only time I go to his or her earlier works then probably do the reading chronologically. Of course, I am talking here of authors that have more than 5 works to their name and did not get international fame in their very first or only book.

This is what’s been happening with me and Ian McEwan’s books. I first read Enduring Love since it is a 501 book. I gave it a 5 star. Next was his Booker awardee, Amsterdam and gave it a 4 star. Then, I picked up what his fans are saying as his masterpiece, Atonement and gave it a 5 star. Then I moved to his saddest (so far) book, A Child in Time and gave it another 5 star. I am now determined to read all his works before I die. I am now a certified McEwan fan. With the rate I am going, I will be a completist for him and it will be my first.

In 2008, Ian Russell McEwan (born 1948) was named as one of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 by The Times. His two latest works, On Chesil Beach (2007) and Solar (2010) are not at par with his earlier works according to literary critics. So, I am not reading them yet. Some novels need more time for people to see their worth so I am not bothered. McEwan’s earlier 2 books that earned him the title “Ian Macabre” did not become immediate bestsellers too but enough for him to get noticed despite having that title.

Those two books are The Cement Garden (1978) and The Comfort of Strangers (1981). This review is about the first one, Cement and I really liked it still.

Going back to your favorite author’s earlier works is like seeing Brad Pitt in a 1991 movie, Thelma and Louise. Brad Pitt did a cameo role but his role and his looks almost stole the movie from Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. Unadulterated Brad Pitt: without gimmicks, not in an epic role, no high powered gun, and with no girlfriend with pouty lips by his side. Just like Ian McEwan in Cement. It is slim plain storytelling of 4 kids orphaned at their very young age: Julie (17), Jack the narrator (15), Sue (13) and Tom (6). When the story opens, the father is gardening and 2 pages after, he dies. Then 10 pages or so, the sickly mother dies too. Because they are still young and they don’t want to live apart and stay in orphanages, they bury their mother in their cellar. I will not tell you the rest of the story as I do not want to spoil your fun. With that plot, I can now see where McEwan got the title of “Ian Macabre”.

The story does not introduce you to mind-bogging syndrome like "de Clerambault’s" (Enduring Love). Neither does it make you aware of the politics nor role of media (Amsterdam). It does not have a grandiose backdrop like WWII or that big revelation like Briony’s secret or guilt (Atonement). It does not dwell on father’s sadness and longing that brings forth his own experience as a child (A Child In Time). Cement is like going back many steps backward and finding McEwan’s core: brilliant storytelling without unnecessary pizzazz. You will love, get amused and cry with the orphaned kids. You will be able to identify yourself in one of them: the take-charge Julie, I-have-no-friend Jack, the diarist Sue or the clueless Tom. They are plain American kids and they don’t know what they are doing like not cleaning their house or eating all junks that they can find in the supermarket. Those, plus that scene towards the end. Just this one point: Among McEwan's works, this one is dark, that's why I liked it.

This deserves to stay in the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It will tell you want will happen if you and your partner die while your kids are still minors :)...more

I'm not surprised that Goodreads recommends J.M. Coetzee to readers who enjoyed this, because my experience of J.M. Coetzee was similar to my experience with this book, which was "Yes, a very good writer but ewwwwwwww!"

I have not read Ian McEwan before, and if all his books are like this, I'm unlikely to try him again. I don't mind a disturbing book with unlikable characters who do disgusting things, but you have to give some reason to want to keep reading besides just admiring how skillfully thI'm not surprised that Goodreads recommends J.M. Coetzee to readers who enjoyed this, because my experience of J.M. Coetzee was similar to my experience with this book, which was "Yes, a very good writer but ewwwwwwww!"

I have not read Ian McEwan before, and if all his books are like this, I'm unlikely to try him again. I don't mind a disturbing book with unlikable characters who do disgusting things, but you have to give some reason to want to keep reading besides just admiring how skillfully the writer describes these sick, damaged people, and all I thought about as I read The Cement Garden was that I was glad it was short because I wanted to get through it and be done with it.

The plot is very simple: four children live alone in an old house after both their parents died. They've managed to keep secret the fact that they're orphans, so rather than be put "in care" as the Brits say, they now have the house all to themselves, thanks to regular payments from some account their mother set up before she died which the oldest girl, Julie, collects from the post office.

Being a family that was already dysfunctional before their parents died (the older three were already playing incestuous "doctor" games), they pretty much turn feral once they no longer have adult supervision. The two girls, Julie and Sue, are relatively "normal" in the sense that they can present themselves as ordinary functional human beings; Julie is very pretty, is the only one who goes out, and soon she has a "bloke," an older man who is bound to bring complications into this tidy arrangement. Sue, the second-youngest, spends all her time scribing grim thoughts in her journal.

Meanwhile, Jack, the first person narrator, stops bathing or changing his clothes, and much of the book is spent dwelling on the details of the filth beneath his fingernails, his acne, and his masturbatory habits, this being pretty much his sole pastime aside from slouching around the house inflicting his stench and his bad attitude on his siblings. Tom, the youngest boy, bullied at school, first decides he wants to be a girl, because girls don't get hit (his sisters try to disabuse him of this notion, to no avail, but then encourage him in his cross-dressing), and then decides he wants to be a baby again, which Julie cheerfully facilitates.

Meanwhile, Jack is clearly obsessed with older sister Julie in a non-fraternal way, and while Julie seems normal, even motherly, on the surface, being what passes for the voice of reason and authority in this broken household with dishes moldering in the kitchen, she clearly enjoys the power she has over her brother and is learning how to subtly push those buttons.

It is hard to imagine any of these creatures growing up psychologically healthy.

Their dystopian Never Never Land might go on indefinitely, except that there is a little secret in their cellar, hinted at by the title, and since none of the kids are big on smarts or planning, it is bound to end badly.

By the end of the book I was about as grossed out as I have ever been by a book not written by Robert Heinlein or Piers Anthony.

My problem, and the reason I am giving The Cement Garden 2 stars despite being written by a Man Booker Prize winner, is that I failed to see the point and utterly failed to enjoy anything about it. It's a macabre, almost gothic tale set in that grim, stark English urban landscape that Pink Floyd was singing about back about the same time McEwan wrote this. It's skillful and unsettling and maybe that's all McEwan intended, and surely there are people who like books that exist only to twist all their revulsion dials. But I wanted to drink bleach after reading this, and I'm only giving it 2 stars rather than 1 because I cannot deny it's very well-written and very effective at impacting the reader....more

Ian McEwan’s Cement Garden left me with the same feelings I had after reading William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. i was aware of their resemblance right from the beginning, not in the sense of an imitation, of course, far from it, but in the choice of the theme and the way to develop it.

Both books argue about the famous nature versus nurture, showing how thin the shell of civilization is, how easy social conventions are forgotten when the link with society is broken. And tConcrete Civilisation

Ian McEwan’s Cement Garden left me with the same feelings I had after reading William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. i was aware of their resemblance right from the beginning, not in the sense of an imitation, of course, far from it, but in the choice of the theme and the way to develop it.

Both books argue about the famous nature versus nurture, showing how thin the shell of civilization is, how easy social conventions are forgotten when the link with society is broken. And the childhood is the most ill-equipped to prevent this involution, since childhood is no secret garden, the authors warn us, but a dangerous hunting ground, be it an island or a shabby house, haunted by invisible monsters born of nightmares, transforming a sow’s head eaten by flies in a powerful Lord and a cement-filled trunk full of indiscrete cracks in a eerie garden. In the absence of the adults to sanction their moves and beliefs, children regress to primitive beings, barely human despite their efforts to imitate adulthood.

However, if Golding analysed mainly the gregarious psychology and the penchant for cruelty versus assertion of individuality and compassion, McEwan is interested in the crumble of the family values in all Freudian ways possible – parricide, incest, sex confusion, regression to infancy, as results of parental abuse and isolation, as it is suggested right from the beginning by the fifteen-year-old narrator:

I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way.

The story of the four siblings taking care of themselves after their parents’ death is, symbolically, the story of the world after the apocalypse, when none of the old constraints and values is applicable. The cement garden gains thus a triple significance: it refers either to the monstrous garden built by an obsessive, abusive and tasteless father, to the ad-hoc grave of a submissive, without authority and ignorant mother and to the barren, catastrophic childhood of the protagonists left alone to discover that beings are interchangeable and rules are confusing and altogether futile in a world that gained the attributes of a perpetual, out of time nightmare:

'It's funny,' Julie said, 'I've lost all sense of time. It feels like it's always been like this. I can't really remember how it used to be when Mum was alive and I can't really imagine anything changing. Everything seems still and fixed and it makes me feel that I'm not frightened of anything.'I said, 'Except for the times I go down into the cellar I feel like I'm asleep. Whole weeks go by without me noticing, and if you asked me what happened three days ago I wouldn't be able to tell you.'

In the end, however, again like in Lord of the Flies, the adults come back and the order is restored. Or is it? For the return to a society that will surely discipline them into the image of their awful parents is no happy ending in the horribly fascinating worlds, so different and so alike, these two great writers have created....more

I was led to Ian McEwan's "The Cement Garden" by Carmen Callil's and Colm Toibin's excellent book, "The Modern Library." Having formed the opinion that I was woefully "unread" after picking up that volume, I decided to take these two authors' advice and dive into those books selected as the most influential books written in English since 1950.

"The Cement Garden," written by McEwan in 1978, is a chilling little book about children living on their own without parents. Essentially, McEwan has constI was led to Ian McEwan's "The Cement Garden" by Carmen Callil's and Colm Toibin's excellent book, "The Modern Library." Having formed the opinion that I was woefully "unread" after picking up that volume, I decided to take these two authors' advice and dive into those books selected as the most influential books written in English since 1950.

"The Cement Garden," written by McEwan in 1978, is a chilling little book about children living on their own without parents. Essentially, McEwan has constructed an urban "Lord of the Flies." Intermingled with themes of social isolation and adolescent sexuality, Freud's Oedipal complex looms large throughout an uneasy psychological tale of a family's dysfunction.

Jack, the fifteen year old son, one of four children, is the narrator. This is the opening sentence: "I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it coincided with a landmark in my own physical growth, his death seemed insignificant compared with what followed."

That landmark in physical growth is Jack's first ejaculation which he accomplishes while Da is busily cementing over the yard out of a sense of efficiency. Perhaps if Jack hadn't been involved in that act of self discovery, poor Da wouldn't have ended up face down in a puddle of wet cement.

Jack psychically erases the existence of his father by smoothing his impression in the cement away after the corpse is carried away by ambulance. There is no grieving process that follows. Death is something that simply happens and must be accepted.

What follows is simply told in a straight forward manner. Shortly after the unnamed father dies of a heart attack, the mother dies of a lingering illness. To Jack and Julie, the oldest, it seemed so obvious at the time to hide their mother's death to remain together. The solution? Cover Mum in a trunk with cement down in the cellar.

Julie is seventeen. She is the obvious choice to become head of the family. Jack resents her assertion of authority. Sue, thirteen, keeps a secret diary, recording their lives, although the reader is only supplied with the briefest of glimpses when she reads a small bit to Jack. Tommy, only four, decides it would be better to become a girl. His sisters readily take to the idea, outfitting him with a wig, blouses and skirts.

As time passes, with no parent on the scene, Tommy regresses to being a baby once more. Julie puts up the old baby crib in her room, assuming the role of mother to the degree she is able, which isn't much, to put it simply.

Inevitably, Mum's death cannot be hidden. There's a crack in the cement covering her body. The sweet sick smell of death permeates the house.

When Julie brings home a boyfriend, Derek, things are going to fall apart. McEwan's gloomy tale skids to a tumultuous climax. This bleak novel is a precise portrait of the grotesque. This is not a book lightly read nor easily forgotten. The subject matter is not pleasant, nor is it meant to be. One turns the page with a degree of squeamishness, but also fascination, as the facts unfold through Jack's unblinking and unrelenting perspective.

McEwan's subsequent three novels in conjunction with the darkness of this story earned him the reputation of being "Ian McAbre." However, in "The Cement Garden," the reader sees the origin of the author who would win the Booker with "Amsterdam," and the writer of the widely read "Atonement." This is one to add to your read stack if you've not already done so. ...more

Flying through The Cement Garden, I would first advise against reading it just before bed, especially if some Gruyere had been nibbled that evening. Finishing the novella in the cold light of day, I find it remarkably creepy. McEwan achieves perfect pitch. I dare say he strikes closer to The Destructors by Greene than anything else. Many people cited Lord of the Flies as a cousin (no pun intended) but that harrowing tale is reductively feral whereas the trauma of Cement Garden and Graham's ladsFlying through The Cement Garden, I would first advise against reading it just before bed, especially if some Gruyere had been nibbled that evening. Finishing the novella in the cold light of day, I find it remarkably creepy. McEwan achieves perfect pitch. I dare say he strikes closer to The Destructors by Greene than anything else. Many people cited Lord of the Flies as a cousin (no pun intended) but that harrowing tale is reductively feral whereas the trauma of Cement Garden and Graham's lads gone wild remain so coldly industrial.

I saw the film in the mid-90s and it bothered me. I found the prose a more intriguing paen....more

JonfaithThe Comfort of Strangers really disturbed my wife and I, but in that revelatory sort of wonky way. The weirdness was liberating even if it had gruesomThe Comfort of Strangers really disturbed my wife and I, but in that revelatory sort of wonky way. The weirdness was liberating even if it had gruesome ends in store....more
Sep 19, 2012 01:58PM

simple and very quick to read, finished this within a day and a half.I found it very difficult to know what to feel for the majority of the book - shock and disgust seem somewhat unwelcome considering the circumstances laid out early on. The implied incestuous activity between the siblings makes one both uncomfortable yet oddly sympathetic. it is not out of sexual attraction that these actions occur, but with the pure necessity of being wanted; being held - simple actions which cannot be fulfillsimple and very quick to read, finished this within a day and a half.I found it very difficult to know what to feel for the majority of the book - shock and disgust seem somewhat unwelcome considering the circumstances laid out early on. The implied incestuous activity between the siblings makes one both uncomfortable yet oddly sympathetic. it is not out of sexual attraction that these actions occur, but with the pure necessity of being wanted; being held - simple actions which cannot be fulfilled by the tragically deceased parents. Julie's clear unease about sexual intimacy with her boyfriend and yet complete nonchalance about her sexual activity with her brother are not necessarily presented to be wrong, but are criticized and dismissed as "sick" by her boyfriend Derek. It is this which leads me to view Derek as a representation of society as a whole - their ideals, opinions of what constitutes "love", "beauty", and "success". With his flash car and annoyingly expensive clothes, Derek is a loathsome character who shows a complete lack of interest in anything other than himself. He is superficial. And whilst incest is obviously not socially accepted, McEwan deals with it sensitively. People perhaps do not think what drives siblings to an act which, to most people, the thought of is enough to cause deep repulsion. I am not condoning or promoting incest, but appreciate the delicacy with which McEwan has managed to examine it. ...more

this is the first novel by Ian McEwan that I have read. it is concise and tightly written and you really get the impression that McEwan understands his narrator, a 14-year-old boy who's parents have recently died, leaving four siblings on their own.

the two older siblings in effect become the head of the household, and make a decision to keep the family together that has troubling consequences.

that one can relate to the narrator is equally disturbing and heart breaking...

I picked up this book at the library because "Atonement" wasn't available. Having seen the movie version of "Atonement" I figured that reading one of Ian McEwan's earlier works would be an ideal way of getting a good idea of what McEwan's writing style is like.Having now read "The Cement Garden" I must say that whoever continued reading his books were brave people. If I had no idea that his storytelling abilities had improved I would never again read one of his books. In fact, I would probably lI picked up this book at the library because "Atonement" wasn't available. Having seen the movie version of "Atonement" I figured that reading one of Ian McEwan's earlier works would be an ideal way of getting a good idea of what McEwan's writing style is like.Having now read "The Cement Garden" I must say that whoever continued reading his books were brave people. If I had no idea that his storytelling abilities had improved I would never again read one of his books. In fact, I would probably look at all of his works with revulsion.Yes, I do feel that strongly about "The Cement Garden." It had no discernable plot, the narration - although insightful to the mindset of a 14/15 year old boy - was disturbing, and there was no true ending. I'm a fan of nicely wrapped up endings and this ending left me with my jaw dropped and my eyes blinking rapidly. I'd had hopes of McEwan redeeming himself with some great ending, but it never arrived....more

I came to this book via the excellent 1993 movie version that starred Charlotte Gainsbourg, the gamine, androgynous French actress whose odd beauty -- inherited from her eccentric composer father, Serge, and her svelte model mother Jane Birkin -- I admit an attraction to. As usual she dropped trou in the movie, so I was not disappointed.

Gainsbourg was about 21 when she made the film, but was portraying a 16 or 17-year-old adolescent or thereabouts, and looked the part; her character, Julie, seemI came to this book via the excellent 1993 movie version that starred Charlotte Gainsbourg, the gamine, androgynous French actress whose odd beauty -- inherited from her eccentric composer father, Serge, and her svelte model mother Jane Birkin -- I admit an attraction to. As usual she dropped trou in the movie, so I was not disappointed.

Gainsbourg was about 21 when she made the film, but was portraying a 16 or 17-year-old adolescent or thereabouts, and looked the part; her character, Julie, seemed to be the focal point of the movie.

In the book Julie is certainly a strong and powerful presence (aging from 15 to 17 as the story progresses) as the nominal head of a family of English orphaned adolescents -- Sue (12), Jack (14) and their very young brother, Tom. But Julie is not the protagonist, Jack is. The book is told entirely from his point of view.

In the film, Jack seems an aloof and less important character, mainly a reactive one to Julie, and, indeed in the book as well, he is a distant, shiftless, unhygienic, zit-faced angry adolescent slug. When pressed for something to do, he masturbates, often fantasizing about the body of his older sister. At first, reading this book, I was wishing the story had been told from Julie's point of view, but as I read on and thought about it, I started to appreciate Ian McEwan's strategy and decision to tell his story via a fairly weak protagonist. It's a bold and risky choice to have a story told from the perspective of perhaps the least interesting character in the book. The result is a certain clinical precision, a simplicity of language; and Jack's cluelessness and amorality about what goes on around him allows the reader to appreciate the ironies and overlay whatever moral judgments he or she may desire. The unreliability of Jack as a narrator also comes into question at times when he and Julie disagree on the content of past events.

The Cement Garden is a macabre, claustrophobic tale of ennui and gothic horror, but not in the usual sense. There are no murderers or vampires or ghosts afoot. There are only the grotesqueries of time and decay and ignorance and secrets. The cement garden in the story has at least two meanings, and both refer to death.

Spoilers won't be given here. But it must be said that the symbolic spectres of dead parents hover over the orphaned children in the book as they inhabit their decaying monolithic house, making up the rules as they go along and fearful of the intrusion of the outside world, a world that might take them away and split them apart at any moment. As they play their bizarre games and accumulate their rank detritus, the smell of death triggers memories of life.

Cement is constantly breaking down in the novel, a symbol of the impermanence of human structures and the eventual and inevitable conquest by nature. Tombs and buildings are merely temporal monuments of human hubris. There's a lovely section in the book where Jack, lolling about in demolished prefab houses, ruminates about the temporary nature of buildings; the idea that people once took comfort in spaces that are now open to the merciless sky.

The book is very English, a new twist on the old Cold Comfort Farm story with a touch of the Village of the Damned. One very astute review here on GR compared it to Jean Cocteau's Les Enfants Terribles. Frequent comparisons made to Lord of the Flies are also apt, but the changes among the children in The Cement Garden are less dramatic, if indeed there are really any at all.

The book explores topics such as masturbation, incest, androgyny, gender roles, socialization in isolation, tribalism, death, memory and more.

There is no resolution, no redemption, no easy out in this book. I very much enjoyed this odd, meandering story. I could not put it down, in fact....more

I have read and enjoyed many of McEwan’s novels, but most of those have been written in the past decade. I was interested in reading this, his first published novel, and comparing it with his later work. The one was published when McEwan was thirty years old in 1978 and had been preceded by a collection of short stories.

The story is simply told although clearly very odd. Four children ranging in age from 6 to 16 are orphaned rather suddenly. There seem to be no relatives and essentially no sociaI have read and enjoyed many of McEwan’s novels, but most of those have been written in the past decade. I was interested in reading this, his first published novel, and comparing it with his later work. The one was published when McEwan was thirty years old in 1978 and had been preceded by a collection of short stories.

The story is simply told although clearly very odd. Four children ranging in age from 6 to 16 are orphaned rather suddenly. There seem to be no relatives and essentially no social contacts of significance. Fearing that they will be separated and place in foster care, they bury their mother, the second parent to die, in concrete in the basement and try to carry on with life as best they can, which is not well. Each must first of all deal with the psychological trauma related to what has occurred, and then collectively they must work together to run a household. The second eldest, Jack, who narrates the story, is the most clearly delineated of the lot, but his primary characteristics seem to be his determination to defy the social norms of cleanliness and his burgeoning sexuality focusing on masturbation and his sexual fascination with his older sister, Julie. But each of his siblings has his and her own bizarre and dysfunctional way of dealing with a family situation that is coming apart.

I found it interesting to reflect on how a thirty year old author might deal with these issues and wonder how McEwan might deal with them were he writing the novel today. Some of psychological perceptions are acute, generally rather Freudian, but the short novel lacks the sophistication and subtlety of much of his later work. It is important, I think, in order for a novel like this to “work,” that the reader be led to ponder the reasons for each character’s reactions to adverse circumstances, and I sensed that McEwan was more interested in simply presenting the children as bizarre, focusing on their non-adaptive ways of coping primarily for the voyeuristic sensation rather than with genuine sympathy....more

Is there a 'natural' state to which children revert when there are no parents around to keep an eye on them, and if so, are we allowed to judge and intervene if that 'natural state' goes against society's ideas of what is natural and acceptable? That is the question raised (but not answered) in The Cement Garden, Ian McEwan's 1978 debut as a novelist. The 138-page novella is about four children who, following the deaths of their parents, decide to go on living together as if nothing had ever hapIs there a 'natural' state to which children revert when there are no parents around to keep an eye on them, and if so, are we allowed to judge and intervene if that 'natural state' goes against society's ideas of what is natural and acceptable? That is the question raised (but not answered) in The Cement Garden, Ian McEwan's 1978 debut as a novelist. The 138-page novella is about four children who, following the deaths of their parents, decide to go on living together as if nothing had ever happened, so as not to be separated or put into an orphanage. Needless to say, this gives them rather more freedom than they're used to, and so they embark on some unusual paths...

Like many early McEwan stories, The Cement Garden is fascinating but not for the faint of heart. Those willing to immerse themselves in a bath of teenage lust, ennui, contrariness and cruelty will find it a gripping read; those who are easily put off by anything remotely twisted are likely to find it quite repulsive. Personally, I'm in the former camp. I can see why people would be disgusted by this book, but I found it quite mesmerising myself. In a weird way, it is both hyperrealistic and completely unrealistic, like a dark fairytale set in our own world but not completely part of it. Like the children it so vividly describes, it veers from rude and aloof to shockingly tender and intimate. The rude scenes are brilliantly honest and well-observed, while the intimate scenes (which are of an incestuous nature) are so hauntingly tender that they're actually quite beautiful and, well, understandable. So who are we to say that this particular kind of intimacy is wrong? It is, obviously, but in the strange universe McEwan creates here, it somehow feels right. That's a mark of genius, I think, even if it will leave conservative readers with a vile taste in their mouths. I doubt McEwan will ever write anything like this again, but as a jaw-dropping debut, it is quite unsurpassed, I think....more

"The Cement Garden" is the strangest book I've ever read, and probably the grossest too. The narrator is a disgusting, 15-year-old boy named Jack who lazes around the house, doesn't much care for bathing, and harbors sexual feelings for his older sister. When his mom dies (dad's already dead), it's Jack's idea to bury her in a trunk in the basement with cement. The descriptions of the smell the trunk emitted still make me cringe and overall, as another reviewer said, the book leaves you feeling"The Cement Garden" is the strangest book I've ever read, and probably the grossest too. The narrator is a disgusting, 15-year-old boy named Jack who lazes around the house, doesn't much care for bathing, and harbors sexual feelings for his older sister. When his mom dies (dad's already dead), it's Jack's idea to bury her in a trunk in the basement with cement. The descriptions of the smell the trunk emitted still make me cringe and overall, as another reviewer said, the book leaves you feeling very dirty afterwards. Not my sort of book, though I suppose I can see how some people might be fascinated enough to enjoy it. Just too weird and disgusting for me.

This is Ian McEwan's first book, and it shows in some ways -- it's far more explicitly (and sexually) creepy than his more recent novels. But the essential McEwan style -- polished, smooth, but with unexpected word usages -- is already here, as is the essential McEwan plot structure: something terrible happens, decisions are made, and then the ramifications play out for the rest of the novel. I would probably recommend this book mostly to people who are already fans of McEwan's later novels (e.gThis is Ian McEwan's first book, and it shows in some ways -- it's far more explicitly (and sexually) creepy than his more recent novels. But the essential McEwan style -- polished, smooth, but with unexpected word usages -- is already here, as is the essential McEwan plot structure: something terrible happens, decisions are made, and then the ramifications play out for the rest of the novel. I would probably recommend this book mostly to people who are already fans of McEwan's later novels (e.g. Atonement, Saturday) and want to see what he was like when he started out. For the curious fan, in other words ......more

When someone asked me what the book was about, I blurted out “Incest!” I must have shown more enthusiasm than is appropriate, because they gave me a really odd look.

I appreciated this book’s insight into how children might behave when the parents are absent. I felt uncomfortable for the entire length, which is far better than the apathy most recent reads have engendered. And I was impressed by McEwan’s subtle writing and look forward to reading more of his work.

CassyIt has been well over one year since I read Cement Garden. And I was so excited about McEwans at the time, but somehow I haven't read anything else siIt has been well over one year since I read Cement Garden. And I was so excited about McEwans at the time, but somehow I haven't read anything else since. Thanks for reminding me, Cecily! I could use some darkness in my reading right now. I am still leaning toward Atonement, but we'll see!...more
Sep 22, 2012 06:48AM

CecilyOut of context (and without a capital A), your final two sentences conjure an intriguing image!
Sep 22, 2012 07:07AM

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.From IMDb:After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their houseFrom IMDb:After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their household. Soon Tom has taken to dressing as a girl whilst Sue has become increasingly reticent, confiding only to her diary, meanwhile Jack and Julie sense an attraction developing for each other. However Julie's new beau, Derek, threatens to unearth the many dark secrets within this family as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Jack.

A movie was made based on this book: The Cement Garden (1993) with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Andrew Robertson, Alice Coulthard.

4* Amsterdam4* Black Dogs3* Enduring Love5* Atonement3* The Innocent3* Saturday3* On Chesil Beach3* Sweet Tooth2* The Children Act3* The Cement GardenTR The Child in TimeTR The Comfort of Strangers...more

Without a doubt, the best thing about The Cement Garden is the author photo. That's not to say the book is so bad that the photo stands out as being exemplary; instead, it is meant to be an indication of how awesome the photo is. Now I know, some may have read more recent editions of this novel, and for those individuals I am truly sorry, because they've missed out. You see, that Ian McEwan we all know, the one with the feathery gray hair, suit jacket, and professorly stare, once aspired to be tWithout a doubt, the best thing about The Cement Garden is the author photo. That's not to say the book is so bad that the photo stands out as being exemplary; instead, it is meant to be an indication of how awesome the photo is. Now I know, some may have read more recent editions of this novel, and for those individuals I am truly sorry, because they've missed out. You see, that Ian McEwan we all know, the one with the feathery gray hair, suit jacket, and professorly stare, once aspired to be the Lennon of Literature.Oh yeah, didn't I tell you?

Enough about the seventies. Some people hate The Cement Garden and they should. It might give them cooties. Yeah, there are some of those societal taboos here, but they didn't phase me. Maybe I'm just as perverse as McEwan, though I can honestly say I was never able to rock a vest quite like that. The novel worked for me. It got across what it needed to in its brevity and it did so in a terrific voice. I like young McEwan—he knew how to simultaneously stay involved in his characters while keeping the reader interested. I have to read more McEwan before making a definitive judgment, but I get the feeling his earlier works are the most... engaging.

Some will find this book vulgar—and I certainly think many authors who would've touched the same subject would've made it so—but with McEwan it almost has a beauty to it. It's a straight forward story told without flair or trick, and, for some readers, that itself may be more vulgar than the plot. What's not vulgar, however, is that photo. ...more

I had found throughout my professional life, that little remained to surprise me. I had observed much suffering, violence, severe maiming injuries, rape, incest and certainly death, etc. So, when I state that this novel was disturbing, it is because of the unsettling events that occur and the manner in which McEwan has written it. Certainly, his books contain harsh, difficult topics. The aura surrounding this tale is dark, indeed.

The focus is on four children and how they coped following theirI had found throughout my professional life, that little remained to surprise me. I had observed much suffering, violence, severe maiming injuries, rape, incest and certainly death, etc. So, when I state that this novel was disturbing, it is because of the unsettling events that occur and the manner in which McEwan has written it. Certainly, his books contain harsh, difficult topics. The aura surrounding this tale is dark, indeed.

The focus is on four children and how they coped following their parents' deaths. McEwan did manage to convey the atmosphere of gloom and helplessness. He was able to identify adolescent behaviors astutely. Yet, this was an unpleasant reading experience for me. Despite the tension which became increasingly prevalent, it was not difficult to conjecture how this would conclude.

I could say that perhaps since this was one of McEwan's much earlier efforts it was not his best, but he followed this book with many successful offerings. Although many compare this style to Enduring Love and Atonement , both of which captivated me, I have been unable to place this novel in the same class....more

ShaliniNoticed this on your to-read page. Loved it, it's incredibly atmospheric and immersive, and quite dark. Very different from some of Ian McEwan's moreNoticed this on your to-read page. Loved it, it's incredibly atmospheric and immersive, and quite dark. Very different from some of Ian McEwan's more recent books, but if you liked the style of Atonement and Enduring Love, this is quite similar....more
Aug 01, 2011 12:49AM

K.D. AbsolutelyThis is one of the simpler books by McEwan but still engaging for me. Great review, B.
Sep 28, 2012 06:40PM

This is the story of Julie (17), Jack (14/15), Sue (13), and Tom (6), playing houses after the death of their parents.

The first solid thought flashed in my head after finally finishing this book was: WHAT’S BLOODY WRONG WITH THESE KIDS?

Okay, I lied, the thought didn’t just occur after the book ended. It was actually established at the beginning of the book and stretched out till the very last page. Oh, and by beginning I mean when they’re playing doctor (Was it on page four?). What kind of healtThis is the story of Julie (17), Jack (14/15), Sue (13), and Tom (6), playing houses after the death of their parents.

The first solid thought flashed in my head after finally finishing this book was: WHAT’S BLOODY WRONG WITH THESE KIDS?

Okay, I lied, the thought didn’t just occur after the book ended. It was actually established at the beginning of the book and stretched out till the very last page. Oh, and by beginning I mean when they’re playing doctor (Was it on page four?). What kind of healthy-minded big sis and big bro that strips her little sis and stroke her back and thighs with their fingernails while playing the supposedly harmless game? Not to mention, they “looked into her mouth and between her legs with a torch and found the little flower made of flesh”, then the big sis stroked it and “closed the slit with her finger and thumb”. Is it a common game which young siblings do nowadays? I’m sorry; I must be completely outdated here.

But, what bothered me the most was not the incest part; it’s the children’s unstable mentality pictured throughout the book. At first, I thought the only messed up person was Jack (the narrator), which was without a doubt the most egotistical and disgusting narrator I’ve ever come upon. But, as soon as the tale revealed itself, no one could pretend any longer that he/she was saner than the others. Perhaps, Sue was the most tolerable of them all, but I couldn’t be so sure; I spaced out on some paragraphs because I was terribly bored by the story.

WHY I COULDN’T RELATE TO JACK AND IN FACT HATE HIM:He’s the king of selfishness. Sue to Jack: ‘You never understood anything about her (their mother). You were always horrible to her… You never did anything she asked you. You never did anything to help. You were always too full of yourself, just like you are now.’ I second every word she said.

Example No 1His mother was sick and she told him, ‘I might have to go away soon.’ He asked, ‘Where?’ and his mother answered that she was to go to hospital. Then, Jack asked, ‘How long for?’ of which she replied, ‘It might be quite a long time. That's why I want to talk to you.’ And this was Jack’s reaction:

“I was more interested in how long she really meant, a sense of freedom was tugging at my concern.”

Gosh, you’re 15, but you’re not retarded, right? His mom had been lying in bed for weeks and she rarely got out of her room. How hard is it to put 1 plus 1 equals two? How hard is it to realize that your mom is seriously sick? What a douche bag!

Example No 2“The day before I had made Tom cry by nicking his head with my fingernail. He had been making a row outside my bedroom door and had woken me up. He lay on the floor clutching his head and screamed so loud that Sue came running out of her bedroom. 'It's his own fault,' I said, 'making a noise like that first thing in the morning.' Sue rubbed Tom's head. 'First thing!' she said loudly over Tom's screams. 'It's almost one o'clock.' 'Well, it's still first thing in the morning for me,' I shouted and went back to bed.”

For God’s sake, Tom is 6 and you’re 15, Jack. I want to kick him in the shin real’ hard.

Example No 3After his parent’s death, instead of immediately trying to find a job or making himself useful, he decided “masturbating each morning and afternoon” was more rewarding.

WHY JULIE’S SICK IN MY HUMBLE OPINION:Example No 1Remember page 4?

Example No 2She made Tom a baby, setting him down in a cot.Julie: ‘Don't be so surprised, Tom wants to be a little baby. He was such a naughty boy this afternoon, so we had a long talk and decided lots of things.’ [CREEP!]

Example No 3After being hit quite nastily by his schoolmates, Tom said to Sue that he wanted to be a girl because girls didn’t get hit.Julie: ‘Poor little thing. We should let him be a girl if he wants to.’ [WHAT? You’re the oldest kid; you’re supposed to be the voice of reason and the wise one, right?]Sue: ‘He'd look so beautiful in one of my old frocks. That sweet little face.’Jack: ‘He’d look bloody idiotic.’Julie: ‘Yes? Why do you think that?’ [YOU DON’T KNOW WHY? You’re kidding me, Jules?]Jack: ‘You know he would…’ [paused] ‘Making him look stupid just so you can have a laugh.’Julie: ‘You think girls look idiotic, daft, stupid...’Jack: ‘No.’Julie: ‘You think it's humiliating to look like a girl, because you think it's humiliating to be a girl.’ [1+1 EQUALS FIVE? Real’ smart, Jules!]Jack: ‘'It would be for Tom, to look like a girl.’Julie: ‘Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it's okay to be a boy, for girls it's like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading. Why else would you think it's humiliating for Tom to wear a frock?' [UGH, WHATEVER. This would be our last conversation, ever.]

Example No 4“I rolled on to my back and Julie, still laughing, sat astride me, took hold of my penis and pulled it into her.”Need I say more?

WHY EVEN THE 6-YEAR OLD TOM’S KIND OF ‘DISTURBED’ TOO:Tom: ‘Julie put everything away. All Mum's things.’Jack: ‘What did you want with Mum's things? You played with her things?’Tom: ‘We did dressing up and things.’Jack: ‘You and Julie?’Tom: ‘Me and Michael, stupid!’Jack: ‘You dressed up in Mum's clothes?’Tom: ‘Sometimes we were Mummy and Daddy and sometimes we were Julie and you and sometimes we were Julie and Derek.’ [Okaaaayyyy.](hide spoiler)]

Can I not rate this book please?Figured you might say no.I’ll give it 2.5 stars, then. It wasn’t that engaging and the first half of the book was slightly boring. The narrator couldn’t help the case either. BUT, a big BUT, the story was so bizarre and heartbreaking all at the same time, it captured something entirely different and unique from the narrator's point of view.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

Did you guys knew that Ian McEwan started out as a horror novelist? The Cement Garden is his first novel - it's creepy and disturbing, though much of these aspects has dimmed with time. It was published in 1978, when a lot of creepy fiction got printed (Flowers in The Attic anyone?) and was billed as "shocking, morbid, full of repellent imagery". It's an extremely quick read - only 120 pages long - and written in clear, concise style - in truth it's more of a short story, but at 120 pages it nevDid you guys knew that Ian McEwan started out as a horror novelist? The Cement Garden is his first novel - it's creepy and disturbing, though much of these aspects has dimmed with time. It was published in 1978, when a lot of creepy fiction got printed (Flowers in The Attic anyone?) and was billed as "shocking, morbid, full of repellent imagery". It's an extremely quick read - only 120 pages long - and written in clear, concise style - in truth it's more of a short story, but at 120 pages it never feels bloated. I don't think it's particularly memorable, but everyone has to start somewhere....more

This reminds me of Cocteau's 'Les Enfants Terribles.' It has a similar storyline, although the children of 'Cement Garden' have less of the restlessness of the ones in Cocteau's book. I'd say 'ennui' is an appropriate word for much of the narrator's tone. Still, if you like books with adolescent siblings creating their own little world, with a strong incestuous undercurrent, this is one for you. It's short enough to read in an afternoon, especially if it's one of the long, lazily hot days descriThis reminds me of Cocteau's 'Les Enfants Terribles.' It has a similar storyline, although the children of 'Cement Garden' have less of the restlessness of the ones in Cocteau's book. I'd say 'ennui' is an appropriate word for much of the narrator's tone. Still, if you like books with adolescent siblings creating their own little world, with a strong incestuous undercurrent, this is one for you. It's short enough to read in an afternoon, especially if it's one of the long, lazily hot days described in most of the book....more

Ian McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex, where he received a BA degree in English Literature in 1970. He received his MA degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia.

McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. He won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976 for his first collection of short stories First Love, LastIan McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex, where he received a BA degree in English Literature in 1970. He received his MA degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia.

McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. He won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976 for his first collection of short stories First Love, Last Rites; the Whitbread Novel Award (1987) and the Prix Fémina Etranger (1993) for The Child in Time; and Germany's Shakespeare Prize in 1999. He has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction numerous times, winning the award for Amsterdam in 1998. His novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). He was awarded a CBE in 2000. In 2006, he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Saturday and his novel On Chesil Beach was named Galaxy Book of the Year at the 2008 British Book Awards where McEwan was also named Reader's Digest Author of the Year.

McEwan lives in London. His most recently published work is The Children Act (2014)....more

“Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it's okay to be a boy; for girls it's like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading.”
—
143 likes

“At the back of my mind I had a sense of us sitting about waiting for some terrible event, and then I would remember that it had already happened.”
—
12 likes